Clark Park Youth Soccer Program completed another successful season in Fall 2010 with nine straight Saturdays of beautiful soccer weather! With a record-breaking number of registrations, nearly 200 children ages 5 to 11 played on eight teams in a rainbow-colored array of t-shirts.

The organizers of the program attributed the high registration to increased efforts to promote the soccer program at more area schools, with flyers distributed at Alexander Wilson and Henry Lea elementary schools.

The Clark Park Youth Soccer Program is a non-competitive program for kids of all abilities, bringing kids to the park for a couple of hours of fun, fresh air and exercise, and the chance to learn about teamwork along with some basic soccer skills. Many children who got their first taste of the game in the Clark Park program have moved on to more competitive programs at their schools or elsewhere in the city.

Coaches for the program are all volunteers – some are parents, many are students at local colleges, some are just soccer enthusiasts who want to share their love for the game. Parents and other volunteers help keep the program running by managing equipment, providing snacks and participating enthusiastically in the traditional last-day Kids vs. Parents game.

While participants pay a small registration and insurance fee, the program is strongly supported by Friends of Clark Park, and by the generosity of individuals and area businesses. Sponsors’ support allows the program to offer “soccerships” to families so that no child is ever turned away because of financial need.

The Spring 2011 season will kick off on Saturday, March 19th. Watch for registration materials in the mail if you’ve participated in previous seasons, or learn more about the program at the Youth Soccer Page, or by “friending” Clark Park Youth Soccer on Facebook!

— Kathleen Turner

PS: By clicking on “Youth Soccer” under the “Categories” list at right, you can read all posts about Youth Soccer.

As one of the site managers for the Friends of Clark Park, I’d like to ask your opinion on a feature we plan on implementing soon.

The FOCP currently maintains an email mailing list of its members which we use for announcements. However, this new website system offers us the ability to let people _subscribe_ to the site. People can receive emails notifying them of new posts.

When we implement this “subscribe” feature, I would like to set up subscriptions for all the FOCP’s members. Most members get emails from us on the old list to begin with. It’d save you all some work, and it’d ensure that no one gets left behind.

But, I do not want to subscribe anyone to a list without their consent. So, please, let us know what you think of this feature— whether you want to be subscribed or not, any alternate suggestions you may have, whatever. Please leave comments (by clicking on “Leave a Comment” below).

And this will also demonstrate how this site can facilitate community discussion.

Friends, we often walk through the park and notice that the trash and recycling bins are full. Our SMA (Seasonal Maintenance Associate) does his best to keep up with them, but especially when the weather is bad, or on long weekends (like this one) he can fall behind. By the way, the summer SMA (Thomas) works full-time in Clark Park, and the winter SMA (Doug) works part-time at Clark Park and part time at Malcolm X Park. Their salaries and benefits are paid for by the Parks & Recreation Department and the University City District, and they do a good job of keeping the parks tidy.
However, you can help them a lot. If the trash cans are full, DO NOT put trash (other than cans and bottles) into the recycling cans! On the other hand, if you go by a trash can that is full of cans and bottles, you can always move them into the recycling! And, if you are part of a gathering, picnic, or other event in the park, the best way to handle trash and recycling is to take them out with you. Next best is to bring a trash bag with you and leave your refuse tied up beside the cans in the park. That way the cans do not fill up too quickly. Last but not least, if you notice a lot of trash, a phone call or email to one of the groups that help take care of the park (Parks&Rec, UCD, USP, or FoCP) can alert us and we can take appropriate action.
See you in Clark Park!
Frank L. Chance, Past President

Former FOCP President Frank Innes recently announced, “Our longtime neighbor and friend, Paul Brooks, died at 1am Saturday, Feb. 5, surrounded by his wife, Joan, and his children Annie and Nick, after a long illness.”

Paul will be fondly remembered as a past president of the Friends of Clark Park, during the late ’90s. During his time on the FoCP Board, he founded Clark Park Youth Soccer as well as the Clark Park Tree Endowment. He was one of a small band of park activists whose long study and persistent lobbying helped bring about the Clark Park Revitalization Master Plan of 2001.

In 2005, Brooks received the Veteran Volunteer Award from the Dept. of Recreation for 15 years of tireless service to the beloved park across the street from his house. He was a model of what it means to be a good neighbor.

In his non-park life, Paul was an attorney for Community Legal Services. Among his hobbies were sailing and bicycling. “Services will be held in mid-March,” said Frank, “and I’ll forward the details when I know them.”

At the Dickens Birthday party, some members discussed possibly doing a tree-planting in Paul’s honor. Interested people should contact their FoCP Board Members.

As the City merges the Fairmount Park Commission and the Recreation Department into a single, unified Parks and Recreation Department, many park issues remain unresolved. Among these issues is the issuing of permit for large events.

In the past, the Rec department would issue permits for events of more than 25 people, or events where amplified sound is used. As of February 2011, Parks and Recreation has not developed its new permit processes and requirements yet.

One matter of concern is the possibility that permitted events will have to meet an insurance requirement. Some of our Large Events are run by organizations which have existing insurance policies. However, many of our long-standing community events, such as the Best Fest and the Music and Arts Festival, do not have the same degree of organizational support, and may find it difficult– if not impossible– to meet this requirement should it come to pass.

As we said above, we do not yet know if these will be requirements for large events.

Thanks for checking in! As you can see, we’re trying to use the Web in a new way. The new Website is designed to work more as a community forum, where people can post news, questions, and information about Clark Park and anything related. Continue reading

We’ve had some requests for a better update to this website, especially regarding the Park A Reconstruction. So here’s the latest we have.

First of all, the fence is probably going to stay up until May. We know that’s not terrific news. The original plan was that the grass seed would have been spread in early or mid-November, after the paths were laid down, because that would have been the latest time of the year for grass seed to have a chance to take root. However, the city delayed about a month before starting construction, which delayed the progress to the point that a fall seeding wasn’t feasible. This means that the seeding will have to happen in early Spring, probably March or April. The fences will stay up for six weeks after that to give the grass a chance to flourish. So we expect the fences to come down sometime in May.

The FOCP Board also resolved to request a moratorium on issuing permits for large events in Park A during 2011. If Parks and Recreation agrees, events requiring permits that would normally be in Park A (the May Fair, the Uhuru flea markets, the Capture the Flag games) will be moved to Park B, just south of Chester Avenue.

5-6 year olds and 6-7 year olds will play from 10:30 to noon and 7-8 year olds and 9-11 year olds will play from noon-1:30pm each Saturday.

We try to assure anyone who sends pre-registration forms postmarked by the deadline of March 1st will be assigned a place on a team in their age group. CPYSL players must be at least 5 years old but no older than 12 years on March 19th.

Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Management at Pennsylvania State University are conducting a research study to better understand the needs, wants and attitudes of people who volunteer in Philadelphia parks and recreation facilities. Specifically we are examining the reasons people volunteer for our organization, their satisfaction with our organization, and how willing they are too return to volunteer again.

Your response to this survey will help Philadelphia Parks & Recreation officials to better meet your recreation needs and interests. Please take a few minutes today to complete the survey. You can either click on this link )Parks and rec survey) or copy and paste it into your web browser. Your confidentiality will be kept to the degree permitted by the technology used. No guarantees can be made regarding the interception of data sent via the Internet by any third parties.

Your participation in this survey is voluntary, but very important. You have been included in this study because of your volunteer efforts with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation. You do not have to answer any question that you do not want to answer. Rest assured, your answers will remain completely confidential. This study is being conducted for research purposes. Only aggregated results will be reported and you will not be identified in any way with your answers. Once the study is complete, all names and addresses will be destroyed. We WILL NOT sell or distribute your name and address to any other party. The survey should take approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Participants in this survey must be 18 years of age or older.

Completion and return of the survey is considered your implied consent to participate in this study. Please keep this form for your records. If you have any questions or concerns about completing the questionnaire or about participating in this study, you may contact me at the number listed above.

Philadelphia Parks & Recreation would greatly benefit from your experiences, insights, and opinions. For this reason, we greatly appreciate your participation in this study. To show our appreciation for your participation, you can be entered in a drawing for a small prize. If you would like to be entered into the drawing you will need to provide your name and contact information at the end of the survey. Please rest assured that information entered in this section will NOT be linked to your survey responses. This information will be deleted from the database following the prize drawing.